More
with George "Shadow" Morton
Goldmine:
Where does the nickname, "Shadow", come from?
"Shadow"
Morton: George Goldner named me that. Before "Leader Of The Pack"
came out, there was a problem. I went out to Long Island, on the sly,
to cut it after I was told not to cut it. But I finished "Leader..."
and sent the tapes into the city. And then, I disappeared. I did my
usual. I did the bars on Long Island...shoot some pool, make some
bets, some "Liar's Poker" (I won a lot of money playing that game!)
(laughs). When Goldner heard the tape, he was running with it. Right
away. And he had to put down the credits. Now, oddly enough, I had
used two names. I don't know why...maybe from old projects left over
from the Marquees at RCA, I dunno. Billy Martin was one name I was
working under, George Morton was the other. From what I've been told,
there was a big discussion. "What name does he want to use on this
record?" But nobody knew where to find me to get an answer. Goldner
asked Jeff Barry and he didn't know where I was. Finally, Leiber or
Stoller asked him, "Well what do you want to do with the label?" And
Goldner said, "What the hell do I know? Nobody knows anything about
this kid. We don't know where he comes from. We don't know where he
lives. He's like a shadow! As a matter of fact, I'm going to put that
down on the record!" So he did and I became "Shadow."
Goldmine:
That's quite an honor to be named by George Goldner.
"Shadow"
Morton: He was a king. He was different from the others. He was a
gentleman. He was the best. They collar him to Frankie Lyman but he
went way beyond that. He was very good to me. George looked after
me.
Goldmine:
You were heavily identified as the creator of The Long Island Sound.
How true is that?
"Shadow"
Morton: I don't know.I think that sound really belonged to the Rascals.
Great sound. I first heard them in Jersey, over at The Choo-Choo Lounge.
I met Eddie at my apartment through a man professionally referred
to as Fat Frankie. What a wonderful human being. Frankie ended up
being the road manager for the Shangri-Las. Once, when I exited New
York, I asked Frankie to get someone to clean my apartment. I came
back to find Frankie in the apartment and this little guy standing
on a ladder, cleaning my windows. Frankie was hollering at him and
whipping him the with electric cord from the vacuum cleaner. "Work,
you son-of-a-bitch! Work!" Frankie looks up, see me and starts to
laugh. And the guy on the ladder is laughing...he says, "Don't hit
me in that spot--that's where I got shot!" Frankie introduced me to
Eddie Brigati. Because of that day, I promised I'd come out to Jersey
and see his band play. We became friends...as simple as that.
Goldmine:
Did you try to sign the Rascals?
"Shadow"
Morton: I still had commitments to Red Bird. I really couldn't get
involved. After I saw them, I brought out Jeff Barry and Neil Diamond
to see them. Neil was just then walking through the door of Red Bird.
Everybody loved the group. Then the Rascals told me they were going
out to The Barge. I went out there to advise them at their showcase
performance, before Sid Bernstein became involved. Everybody was there.
Everybody turned out for that party--all the stars, all the industry
people. I was on the roof of The Barge. In between conversations,
they'd run up, tell me what was going on, put a few belts down and
run back downstairs. They were a smash.
And
as I recall it, it was the day after the show...I had gone home to
Huntington when I got a call from the boys asking me to come back
down to the house they were staying in...We ended up spending many
hours talking about where their career was going, in what direction
their music was going and just what their musical relationships meant.
A heavy rap! If I remember correctly, the highest bid came in from
Columbia. They were pretty set at going with Columbia. Also, they
were being pushed by people who wanted to take over their management.
I threw my two cents in, for what it was worth--as a friend. I told
them to go with the best. Columbia was the best. But I told them what
I had heard from my friends at Atlantic and Atco--that they wanted
to go with the Rascals, that Atlantic would give them publishing and
production--Now, that was the best deal! Atlantic wanted this group
badly. Here was a white group that could do both--sing white and sing
black. And sound good! What a show group! Dino was a terrific drummer...a
lot of flash. And Gene...great guitarist...very underrated...
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The interview originally appeared in Goldmine
Magazine, July, 12, 1991,
Volume
17, Number14, Issue 286
©
Richard Arfin 1987 Revised
2004 All
Rights Reserved
